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5 Things You Need to Know Today in Worcester – July 15, 2020

By Tom Marino | July 15, 2020
Last Updated: February 2, 2021

In today’s daily 5 Things You Need to Know feature, ThisWeekinWorcester.com explores five important items and stories that Worcester and Central Massachusetts residents should keep a close eye on.

These five things can cover a whole range of subjects and issues that we feel are pertinent to understanding what’s going on in the city and the cities and towns surrounding Worcester.

In today’s edition – Wednesday, July 15 – Sheriff Lew Evangelidis has been re-appointed to the Massport Board of Directors, a pair of Clark University students earn Fulbright honors, QCC is working to make sure everyone fills out a census, Massachusetts makes an electric vehicle pledge and energy costs in the state are among the highest in the country.

Worcester County Sheriff Re-Appointed to Massport Board

July 15, 2020 5 Things

 

Governor Charlie Baker has re-appointed Worcester County Sheriff Lewis G. Evangelidis to the seven-member Massachusetts Port Authority [Massport] Board of Directors for a term of seven years.

Evangelidis currently serves as the Chairman of the Massport Board.

 

Clark Students Earn Prestigious Fulbright Honors

Clark University Alumnus Casey Bush and recent class of 2020 graduate Aran Valente have received awards from the Fulbright Program. Max Defaria, Laiani Shpani and Rafael Levin earned fellowships this summer.

Bush won a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant Award [ETA] to the Czech Republic, but had already accepted an offer from the Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum.

Valente, who received a master’s in health science, was named an alternate for a Fulbright Research Award to Romania. If selected to receive the award, he will pursue ethnographic research on how former orphans who were administered iatrogenic HIV/AIDS by the state mitigated their health risks.

De Faria won both a Critical Language Scholarship [CLS] and The Emerson National Hunger Fellowship. Unfortunately, the opportunity to study Portuguese in Brazil was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but the award remains issued.

Shpani was accepted to the Cornell Laboratory for Accelerator-based Sciences and Education [CLASSE] Research Experience for Undergraduates [REU]; she is studying particle and nuclear physics this summer.

 

QCC Campaigns for Census Participation

Quinsigamond Community College is helping to make sure everyone in the Worcester community is counted in the United States Census.
A recent video outreach campaign encouraged people to take part in the census and attempted to dispel myths and misconceptions about taking apart in the census. The videos were released in Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, Ga, Vietnamese, English and Albanian to maximize outreach.

The program’s creation was driven by Associate Vice President for External Affairs, Viviana Abreu-Hernandez and  Director of Community Bridges Déborah L. González.

Several organizations have assisted to distribute the campaign including Latin American Business Organization [LABO], The Latino Education Institute, South East Asian Coalition, African Community Education, Ascentria Care Alliance, Worcester Public Schools, Worcester Interfaith Alliance, Worcester Public Library, Worcester Legal Aid, Worcester Community Connections Coalition and Literacy Volunteers of Greater Worcester.

 

Massachusetts Energy Costs Among Highest in the Country

In the middle of what is typically the hottest month of the year, energy costs are on the minds of members of many working families.
Here in Massachusetts, there is a reason for energy costs to be of special concern.

The financial experts at Wallethub.com have ranked total energy costs by state across all the United States and Washington DC.
Coming in only behind Connecticut, which has an average total monthly energy cost of $372 per month, was Massachusetts with an average of $351 in total energy costs per month.

Rhode Island and New Hampshire held the third and fourth most expensive energy costs in the nation.

See how Massachusetts ranks with the rest of the county with the map below or review Wallethub.com’s full analysis.

Source: WalletHub

Massachusetts Joins 15 State Pledge to Increase Market for Electric Vehicles

Governor Charlie Baker’s office announced that Massachusetts has become the 15th state to pledge to accelerate the market for electric medium and heavy-duty vehicles.

Massachusetts joined a joint Memorandum of Understanding [MOU] that sets a goal of at least 30% zero-emission vehicle sales by 2030, and 100% by 2050.

The other signatories are California, Connecticut, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and Washington, D.C.

 

Photo courtesy: Joshua Qualls/Governor’s Press Office

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